What is Sports Betting?

“Sports betting” is a general term that describes the act of
placing a bet on the outcome of an upcoming sports match. For as
long as there have been competitions, spectators (and sometimes
even the participants themselves) have bet on the outcome of
those competitions. The goal is always to correctly predict the
outcome and win money for doing so.

Types of Sports Bets

Sports betting can include simple wagers such as “which team
will win the next game” and an endless variety of other bets
such as “who will score the most points.” If you take a look at
any online sportsbook, you’ll see that the types of sports bets
out there are limited only by the human imagination.

Straight Up Bets – These are the basic bets on the outcome of
the match. Any time you place a wager on which team you think
will win the next game, you are placing a straight up bet.

Totals – These are bets in which the sportsbook sets a total
combined score for both teams and you try to guess whether the
final combined score will be more than or less than that total.
Many sportsbooks use half points to eliminate the possibility of
the game ending on that exact points total.

Futures Bets – Futures are bets that look a little farther
into the future. For example, you can place a bet on which team
will win the Super Bowl even though the season has just begun.
The more unlikely a team is to win, the higher the potential
payouts for that team.

Proposition Bets – These bets cover just about everything
else. A prop bet can be based on anything from which player will
score the most points to whether or not the person singing the
National Anthem will make a mistake.

Moneylines and Point Spreads

Sportsbooks use moneylines and point spreads to generate an
equal amount of action on both sides of all bets, which reduces
their risk. Whenever two teams face off in a match, there is
almost always a favorite and an underdog. Sportsbooks use these
two techniques to prevent everyone from betting on the favorite
team every time.

Sportsbooks need to minimize their risk and if they have an
equal number of bets on both sides of every game, they can just
use the losers to pay off the winners. Whenever there is an
unequal amount of action, the sportsbook risks having to pay off
the winners with its own funds.

Moneylines

Moneyline bets specify how much money a player must wager for
each dollar in potential winnings. Sportsbooks set the
moneylines so that bettors must wager more money on the
favorites and less money on the underdogs. For example:

Team A: -300

Team B: +250

Any bettor wishing to place a wager on Team A must wager
$3.00 for every $1.00 in potential winnings. A $300 bet on Team
A would result in a $100 payout if Team A wins the match. Anyone
wagering on Team B only has to wager $1.00 for every $2.50 in
potential winnings. A $100 bet on Team B would result in a $250
payout if Team B wins the match.

Point Spreads

Point spreads are the other technique sportsbooks use to
entice players to wager on both sides of any upcoming match.
Instead of targeting payouts, though, point spreads specify that
the winner must win by X number of points for it to be
considered a win.

Here is an example point spread:

Team A: -10.5

Team B: +10.5

In this game, Team A is the favorite so they must win by 11
points or more. Team B only has to stay within 10 points for it
to be considered a win. Bookmakers often use half points to
prevent the final score from ending up exactly on the spread.